The obvious answer is no. A lack of hearing is not a disability. A lack of hearing in a culture defined by people who can hear is a hardship, not a disability. The loss of one's hearing can lead to disability. It can also lead to a blissful discovery of a world without sound and kinship with others who successfully navigate the silent life.

The possibilities in 3D-printed assistive technology are growing, mostly due to a few think tanks, effective nonprofits, individuals with a cause and their successful crowdsourcing initiatives; and the fact that the world population is aging rapidly. A lot of this tech benefits people with limited motor function, but also the visually and hearing-impaired, as well as the elderly.

According to one Stanford study, “Exploring Markets for Assistive Technologies for the Elderly,” the world population “will age dramatically by 2050 — a problem especially for Japan, Europe and the U.S. Large elderly populations will place a growing strain on human caregivers as well as health and social systems.”

The end of last month was marked by a few significant developments in the world of accessibility tech. No major breakthroughs this time — but even small steps indicate that people who can make a difference are working on making the world a little more comfortable and accessible to everyone — and maybe even a little brighter.

Understanding that everyone is uniquely abled is the key to realizing that we must have the tech available to everyone, including people with audio, visual, and physical limitations. As Selena Larson points out in her article in The Week:

“Although companies are required by law to make their apps and services accessible to people with disabilities, it’s still widely overlooked, especially among early-stage companies who are trying to build and grow quickly.”

During its annual WWDC conference for software developers held last week in San Francisco Apple announced a few improvements to it its systems, such as opening Siri up to third-party app developers and coming to Mac, and making Apple Pay available online.

While none of the announcements could be considered earth-shattering, and, some argue, are just part of playing catch-up to the major platforms like Amazon, Google and Facebook, these enhancements could definitely be useful to us all, including to the people living with disabilities.